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Ask HN: Are bonuses common for software engineers?

4 points by jonaf ↗ HN
I'm curious how common bonuses are for software engineers at other companies (in the US). My company has a bonus structure but it effectively never pays out anything (by the time it gets to my level [staff software engineer], the bonus pool is exhausted). I have never considered the bonus (or potential bonus) to be part of my total compensation, which is just a simple salary. Do some or most engineers making well over six figures also receive any kind of bonus? For example, I've read on several occasions that Google engineers have a slightly lower-than-market base salary, but bonuses (and stock, but let's forget about stock for the purpose of the question if possible) usually result in a net earnings above market. I don't know how true that is, but I'm curious if it's standard or not.

5 comments

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goldenbeet
I can't speak across the board, but I'm a software engineer for a small-medium tech company (~100 employees/~15 devs). We don't have any kind of bonuses for engineers here, typically just 3-5% raises every 6-12 months. I do know of people working for some of the big name tech companies who receive annual bonuses that are quite large. But it doesn't feel like something all that standard for the majority of tech companies.
skylark
Bonuses are an absolutely standard part of comp at the tech giants and unicorns (Uber, AirBnB, etc.) There's a minimum yearly bonus you can expect to get (10-20% depending on where you're at) which increases with performance.

Elsewhere it's not common at all - you might get a small bonus if you're outstanding, but it's not to be expected.

zsx011
I can say it is common in the finance sector in the UK and US. IT workers get 10+% bonuses as standard. Hedge funds, Market Makers, Asset Managers & Investment Banks will all payout bonuses as standard. The % will depend on the company. I know that hedge funds seem to be more bonus driven and have heard of quarterly bonuses being paid out.
jetti
I would add to this that it is also based on firm performance.
dsschnau
Bonuses are pretty common around companies in my area (Metro Detroit). Every company I've worked for had some kind of bonus structure, ranging from "Here's some money and don't tell anyone about it" to "10% every year as long as we're not broke, plus more for performance".